It is known in the art to apply or propel various substances, materials and/or media, e.g., both abrasive and non-abrasive, against a desired surface in order to “treat” the surface, e.g., polish, clean, abrade, prepare a surface for painting, remove rust, grease or oil, etc. The blasting media may consist of dry or liquid material or a combination thereof with or without a variety of abrasive or non-abrasive constituents added thereto. In many applications, the blasting media is a composite media comprising a combination of two or more components which are mixed or blended together with one another, in the desired proportion, to achieve the desired amount surface treatment, e.g., polishing, cleaning, abrading, remove rust, surface preparation, etc. Application of the blasting media by a pressurized applicator generally results in a substantial quantity of media and contaminants becoming airborne and rebounding off of the surface being treated. This rebounding media must be adequately contained within an enclosed treatment area in order to prevent contamination to the surrounding environment with the media and/or removed contaminants and/or debris from the surface being treated. This is especially true if hazardous materials are being removed from the surface being treated.
Containment systems currently known in the art are used in the treatment of objects or surfaces are to be treated including beams, pipes, fixtures, wall, ceilings panels or some other structure. These systems contain the blasting media and other material, contaminant, debris and hazardous material and suppress the harmful affects to a confined area. However, to treat these objects or surfaces, generally an operator would be required to be located inside the containment area and thus exposed and subjected to such hazardous conditions.
Recently, there has been a trend toward designing containment systems and barriers in which the operator is able to stand and be located completely outside the treatment area.